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Many businesses in the plastic industry are experiencing positive changes in both technology, production and recycling processes. Source: Internet.

Create an eco-friendly cycle

The plastic industry is considered an unfriendly industry because the production, consumption and treatment of plastic waste all create bad impacts on the environment.

But in fact, many businesses in this industry are making positive changes in both technology, production and recycling processes to turn the plastic industry into a "green" industry.

For example, Duy Tan Plastic Recycling Company (DTR) has made its mark by creating a "new life cycle" for plastic products. Le Anh, DTR's Sustainable Development Director, said that DTR's plastic recycling plant was built at the end of 2019 in Long An and started operating in 2020. Currently, the factory can collect revenue every year. collects, processes and recycles 30,000 tons of PET plastic, which is expected to double its capacity to 60,000 tons/year in the near future. With HDPE and PP, the current capacity is 10,000 tons/year each and is expected to triple capacity to 30,000 tons/year.

The special thing is that DTR's recycled plastic products have met the standards to be used in the food industry with 15 strict international standards such as ISO, FDA, HACCP.

In 2022 DTR collected and recycled more than 1.3 billion plastic bottles. In which, 4,000 tons of recycled plastic pellets have been successfully exported to the US - the most demanding market in the world. In addition to the US market, DTR's recycled plastic pellets have also been exported to 12 other markets. Currently, the company is a partner of many big brands such as Lavie, Nestlé, Suntory Pepsico.

Similar to DTR, Nam Thai Son Company has also embarked on the production of biodegradable packaging for many years. At first, this product did not receive much attention from the community, so the output of enterprises was mainly through B2B channels for supermarket enterprises. But recently, the market trend is gradually changing, opening up opportunities for businesses to develop more B2C sales channels, distributing directly to consumers.

Meanwhile, Qui Phuc Production-Trading-Service Co., Ltd - a company specializing in stainless steel and plastic furniture has also had many innovations in the production process to make the most of the excess materials and by-products.

For example, when manufacturing a round table, the stainless steel plate will have extra triangular plates in the 4 corners. Instead of discarding these corners or selling them for scrap, Qui Phuc SX-TM-DV Co., Ltd. has researched how to take advantage of this part to produce new products such as corner shelves in the bathroom, decorative motifs on shelf products.

For plastic products, Qui Phuc also has a production process so that the waste in the production process is not directly released into the environment.

Van Thi Thuy Tien, Marketing Director of Qui Phuc Manufacturing, Trading and Service Co., Ltd said: “Many people think that it is very difficult to apply green criteria in furniture manufacturing industries like Qui Phuc’s, but it’s true. Qui Phuc economy has been implemented for a long time. In particular, even though just applying ISO 9000, Qui Phuc is qualified to export products, but the company still applies ISO 14000 certification and is preparing to be granted this certification to ensure environmental goals”.

The parties join hands

In fact, in addition to the National Strategy on Green Growth for the period 2021-2030, with a vision to 2050, approved by the Government in 2021, many new-generation Free Trade Agreements that Vietnam participates in also includes environmental requirements and sustainable development.

Economist Pham Chi Lan emphasized the problems that climate change has caused in recent years. Therefore, countries are forced to pay attention to how to develop greener, environmentally friendly and join hands to protect the environment better. Consumers are also becoming more aware of this and are willing to pay higher prices for environmentally friendly products and boycott products that are harmful to the environment.

“Embarking on green development, green growth right now is not early but it is not too late. Many businesses have realized early and taken many pioneering steps towards a green economy. The fact has also proven that businesses doing green economy will improve their competitiveness, persuade consumers more, and create great trust for consumers. In today's competitive times, that is a great advantage for enterprises," said Pham Chi Lan.

Vu Kim Hanh, Chairman of the Association of High-Quality Vietnamese Goods Enterprises, said that recently, the questions that the Association of High-Quality Vietnamese Goods Enterprises receive the most from its members is how to get can reduce emissions to the environment and how to participate in the carbon credits trading market. This shows that more and more businesses are interested in environmental protection and green economic development.

However, turning these concerns into reality is not easy. As at DTR, although many impressive results have been achieved, Le Anh also admitted that the initial investment costs are quite high. Besides, the price of recycled plastic pellets is currently high, so it is less competitive than ordinary plastic beads. The reason for this is that the classification of plastic waste is not good. At the DTR factory, the amount of impurities accounts for 50% of the collected plastic waste. In addition, the packaging design does not currently have standards to be "friendly" to recycling activities.

Accordingly, while waiting for better improvement in plastic waste classification as well as a standard for plastic bottles for more convenient recycling, Le Anh said, DTR is also learning to apply carbon certification to get new sources of revenue. Thereby helping to reduce production costs and bring more competitive prices for recycled plastic beads.

From the story of DTR, it is necessary to have more supportive policies of the State to make the green transformation of enterprises more favorable. From the perspective of the Association, Vu Kim Hanh said that the Association of High Quality Vietnamese Goods Enterprises is also preparing a series of training programs for businesses on the policies of the State and the policies of the major export markets of Vietnam.

Vietnam aims to avoid the risk that Vietnamese goods, although of good quality, are not imported because of problems with unfriendly packaging. “We always research and update regularly for businesses, even guiding businesses to choose materials and packaging suitable for export markets but still have reasonable prices," Hanh said.